busy busy busy

sorry i haven't posted any of those updates i said i would. i've been knitting like a fool, trying to finish these final four projects before flying out in a week and a half, while also seeing friends and partners as much as possible. i finally finished the baby cardigan yesterday night (pictures to follow once it's dried and has buttons), and am simultaneously knitting a handshoe and spinning fibre for a cowl. hoping to have those two finished by saturday when i get the materials for my final project, a mohawk hat...yeesh.

today is a rainy day and the first one in a while where i didn't book anything in advance, so i've been taking advantage of it, baking cupcakes, doing laundry, spinning, and hanging out with a partner. hopefully i'll have time to post pictures of finished projects soon.

on a side note, i had my first-ever pedicure yesterday, at a local organic spa courtesy of a beautiful friend. she gave me a gift certificate after i helped her get into film school, and knowing that i have issues with my feet, told me to use it on a pedicure. 75 whole minutes strictly spent on my tootsies. i have never let anyone touch or look at my feet for that long ever before. it was a beautiful gift, and my toes are now a pretty navy blue! being a femme is kinda fun sometimes.

handspun!!!

i made handspun last night! my second time working with my drop spindle...

which then turned into this...

loving the slubby nature of my yarn!

(i'm knitting my best friend back home a wasabi cowl for her birthday this month out of the handspun.)

here's the pile of rovings i have left to spin.

they're kettle-dyed merino top from local fibre lady UberWench. know what's awesome about buying from your local dyer? if you need more, all you have to do is email them and arrange it :) i'll be picking up another 4 bundles after she dyes them this weekend for me. hopefully that's enough to get me through the project.
on a completely unrelated note, i'm getting a new macbook later today to replace my old pc (my parents are awesome folks), so that inundation of posts i promised yesterday will probably be up in the next couple of days. i got distracted yesterday by cupcake baking and spinning. and chores, but those were less fun.

hurricane showers

it's pouring rain today, and is supposed to continue doing so for the next few days. a hurricane is headed our way, and apparently a shift in one degree east or west will determine whether we get hit or just get a lot of rain while newfoundland deals with the major storm. either way, it means i'll be hermitting for a little bit, which is nice when you've been too social recently and just want to knit curled up at home with le netflix.

anyway, today's plans include venturing out briefly for groceries and then doing laundry, making appointments, doing paperwork things, and knitting. and hopefully getting some stuff on here updated. i've done a number of projects and adventures recently that need to get posted, including a YARN ROAD TRIP AROUND THE PROVINCE! yes, i went on a road trip specifically for yarn. it was awesome. multiple yarn-gasms awesome. so that will be posted in a bit. and i knit some new stuff, and have a couple of projects on the go, and several projects planned, so maybe i'll be a dork and post a bunch of fibre-related things. sorry if i inundate any newsfeeds (i don't think that will be much of a problem though...).

teaser pic of one of the EIGHT skeins i picked up during the trip...

this is handmaiden fine yarn's casbah, which is a blend of merino and cashmere (and a bit of nylon, so that you can make nice socks from them). i have no idea what it will become, but i love the colours. my partner described them as 'lego'.

nomadic queer knitting club

for those of you living in the halifax area, a friend/lover and i have started up a knitting club - the nomadic queer knitting club, to be exact (the link connects to our ravelry page). our interests are wide-ranging and our plans are broad - knit shit, subversive yarnbombing, and teach others the basics. we move around from location to location, and occasionally take classes (like today's drop spindle class at our LYS). people don't need to identify as queer to join us, but the point is to offer a safe space.

i hope to start up a sister-branch in london when i move at the end of the month. this friend and i are discussing the logistics of including fibre arts in the co-op, so perhaps in a decade or so, we will have a permanent home for the knitting club. in the meantime, join our facebook group to keep up to date with events and meetings.

stay calm and carry yarn.

finished yet another one

i finished the last one of my friends' eye pillows. still have to make my own, but in the meantime, this puppy (piglet?) will be heading to ontario in a short while. huzzah!

yet again, craft planning

today has been quite the crafty one. i sketched out an outfit (check the last post), knit a pair of handshoes for a lover, baked gluten-free macaroons (although they were from a mix and involved microwaving...always question a cookie recipe that involves the microwave), and now i'm embroidering yet another eye pillow.

it is once again thundering here on the coast. i wanted to go kayaking today, but given that i've never done it before (i do love to canoe though) and that the water's a bit choppy due to the weather, i decided it would be smarter to spend the day indoors. my muscles are restless though. i need to dance or something. the soundtrack for today has included florence + the machine and mo kenney, a local musician who's as talented as they are cute. i'm hoping to finish the embroidery tonight, as well as turn a normal shirt into one that works with cuff links. back to my needle and thread. 

eye pillow the second

i finished off my darling friend's eye pillow this morning, after fighting with my sewing machine for a while. sometimes it runs smoothly, other times it decides to be a pain in the ass. anyway, here's the result:

it was another freehand creation, which means that symmetry isn't perfect. i kind of like that though. it makes it feel more unique and loving, if that makes sense. it's a teacup with an om symbol and a heart on the tea bag string. the heart kind of resembles a bird, but that's okay. it's a simple design, which is a nice subtle reminder that simplicity is sometimes the most beautiful. i often overdo things and forget about the beauty of simplicity.

i've been spending the morning baking black bean brownies, writing a letter to my friend, and listening to shane koyczan's new album. it's been wonderful. i'll be popping this in the mail along with a pair of handshoes for another friend (check them out on my sunflowerknit creations page - they're the houndstooth ones), then going for coffee with yet another friend before rehearsal. my life is filled with incredible people and delightful things these days.

more planning

i'm making another eye pillow, this time for my best friend back in the prairies. she and i have been best friends since high school, and have supported each other through too many situations to count. she's also one of the few people i stay in regular contact with despite the distance and time since we've lived in the same city. some of our mutual loves include tea, yoga, books, and holistic healing. anytime one of us is dealing with life stuff, we talk to one another and the temporary solution is always 'do some yoga, read a good book (often 'cunt' by inga muscio), and drink herbal tea.' here's my brainstorming for her eye pillow embroidery design:

i haven't decided whether to fill in the teacup yet or not, but the colour scheme will definitely be in the warmer tones.

finished!

here's the finished project based on last post's designs:

i freehanded the whole thing, and thankfully it came out nicely. i haven't embroidered in ages, so i was pleasantly surprised with the final product. the slip cover is embroidered with dmc floss and made out of scraps of canvas and fleece (on the back). the eye pillow itself is made from scraps of cotton and stuffed with flax seeds, lentils, lavender, and calendula. fingers crossed that it gets through the border without too much trouble and gets to my friend in the states quickly! for those of you who are interested in making your own, i used the amy butler free eye pillow pattern.

(here's a pic of the back...i overstuffed the pillow a wee bit, so it's bulging a little. i'm okay with that though.)

planning

i'm making eye pillows for some cute people in my life. one of them lives in the states, and i miss them loads, despite only having met them once in person for a few hours. the eye pillows are already sewn and stuffed with flax seeds, lavender, calendula, and lentils. now i'm working on embroidering slip covers for each pillow. here's a pic of my sketches and plans for my southern friend. (fyi, some of you may find the word offensive. do some research and learn why it's not.)

a productive weekend

i had a productive weekend, involving making and finishing several gifts and making strawberry jam.

the bear was knit for my cousin's son's 4th birthday, which we celebrated yesterday afternoon. i made his older brother a moose and their cousin a dolphin out of felt. all of the stuffies quickly gained names (bearblack, hooves, and winter, respectively), and were well-received by children and adults alike.

i enjoy giving little gifties to people in my life, and so made a new friend an origami fox out of starry night paper, and included a note about vulpecula, the fox constellation.

i bought six quarts of strawberries from my favourite farmers at the market on saturday, and proceeded to make two batches of jam. twenty cups of hulled, crushed strawberries later, i ended up with 7.5 cups of homemade jam. the ones pictured were from the first batch.

my very own drop spindle (and some other goodies)

today i ran some errands while job-hunting, and i ended up with some lovely stuff.

waterproofer from MEC, bear trap and mango madness teas from David's Tea, and MY VERY OWN DROP SPINDLE from the loop, my favourite local yarn shop.



the spindle is handmade locally from 100% upcycled cutting board. it's beautiful, and has the perfect weight. i can't wait to start spinning my own yarn on it!